If Bus Rapid Transit is foisted on East Oakland, it will be for the same reason freeways and BART are built in low-income neighborhoods — these neighborhoods are not organized.

They don’t have, for instance, effective business associations to oppose it. Berkeley and Temescal in Oakland do, so their political clout stopped it.

The impact of increased congestion, which would put them on par with College Avenue, and the loss of on-street parking would have diminished Telegraph’s vitality.

Minorities, some of who do not even speak English, own many businesses on International Boulevard. Many don’t have the time to attend public meetings and few vote.

Some work hard at fragile businesses and the impact of BRT could push them under. Many may not even be aware of it or its impact.

Primarily it is outsiders who are pushing for this; telling them what is good for them. Many with the loudest voices rarely, if ever, ride buses; they are bike riders.

They became true believers after seeing presentations of BRT on wide corridors in South America, discounting its relevance to four-lane streets with little congestion.

Cleveland removed two out of four lanes for buses only, but it was after the city spent years conducting an inclusive public process.

It was not thrust upon city residents by a bus agency. And they have parallel commercial streets for spillover traffic. International Boulevard doesn’t, so residential streets will take the overflow, and it’s being thrust upon a mostly unaware public.

The loss of 537 parking places on International also hurts pedestrians. It makes the sidewalks unfriendly because there are no parked cars to act as a barrier between them and traffic.

Can you imagine sitting at a cafe on the sidewalk with trucks passing a few feet away?

But AC Transit says many of those parking spaces aren’t being used now, which is to say they don’t expect new development. It could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The irony is, after all the impact on businesses, the dedicated lanes may not do much to improve bus service that can’t be done with simpler means.

Speed, in fact, is not going to increase much, if at all. The environmental impact report says that after millions of dollars are spent, the travel time from downtown Oakland to San Leandro will be 40.2 minutes. I have found on trips that’s about what it is now, even at rush hour. (Try it yourself.)

The main complaint about International is that buses and cars go too fast. Usually, the only congestion is at Fruitvale. The more important issue is frequency and reliability, but since congestion is not the problem, you don’t need a dedicated lane to improve that.

First, shorten the route to just downtown Oakland to San Leandro and insist buses pull out of their starting gate on time and that there are no missing runs. That has worked well on the 51 line.

The federal Transit Administration does not even require BRT to have dedicated lanes. It can have bus priority lanes or, even, operate in mixed-flow, both appropriate for four-lane corridors.

Don’t let a low-income neighborhood be run over.

Speak up at the City Council meeting 6:30 p.m. July 17 in council chambers, Oakland City Hall, Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.